Chelsea: Upcoming fixtures predicted

With Chelsea flying high in the Premier League at the moment, Jose Mourinho will be hoping that his team can continue in this rich vein of form and establish a strong position at the top of the table in February.

What makes the following run of fixtures so interesting is that in the reverse fixtures earlier on in the season, Chelsea did not impress.

In the following analysis, we will look at Chelsea's opponents in the coming weeks and determine how well they will do.

Manchester City vs Chelsea (Monday 3 Feb)

What happened last time: Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge with Sergio Aguero equalising for City after Andre Schurrle had put Mourinho's men ahead with his first goal for the Blues.

A mix up between City goalkeeper Joe Hart and Matija Nastasic meant that Fernando Torres was gifted the chance to win the game in the dying minutes. It was this which forced Manuel Pellegrini to drop Hart, however, the English 'keeper has now got his place back.

What will happen this time: Mourinho will set up very defensively and try to hit the City defence on the counter. City have been phenomenal at home this season and will dictate proceedings whilst probably having the vast majority of the possession too.

Whilst Chelsea's defence have been mean of late, no defence in the world will be able to keep out the firing City attackers forever and whilst Aguero et al will not find it as easy to penetrate Chelsea's defence as the likes of West Ham, it seems an inevitability.

On the other hand, City's defence has not proven so watertight itself and Oscar, Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto'o, who will likely start as Fernando Torres will still be injured, will find holes to exploit and create opportunities. A draw seems the likeliest result.

Prediction: 1-1

Chelsea vs Newcastle (Saturday 8 Feb)

What happened last time: After a rather dull first half the Magpies sprung into life and goals from Yoan Gouffran and Loic Remy secured an unlikely victory for Alan Pardew's team. This win proved to be the springboard for Newcastle, who went on their best run of results this season and pulled themselves out of trouble.

What will happen this time: Chelsea should have enough to beat Newcastle at home and with Yohan Cabaye on the verge of leaving, Pardew has lost his creative hub.

Newcastle will find it difficult to create chances against a typically resolute Mourinho defence. At the other end, Chelsea have found their scoring boots and with Hazard in unbelievable form and it is difficult predicting anything but a comfortable Chelsea win in this one.

Prediction: 2-0

West Brom vs Chelsea (Tuesday 11 Feb)

What happened last time: This game has become infamous for two reasons. Firstly, Mourinho came ever so close to losing his unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge. The second reason was why Mourinho did not lose. Ramires controversially won a penalty in the last minute which secured a 2-2 draw for Chelsea.

Eto'o had put Chelsea ahead after some slack defending from Liam Ridgewell. Shane Long equalised before Stephane Sessegnon put the Baggies ahead. Hazard converted the late penalty with the last kick of the game to preserve Mourinho's unbeaten record at Chelsea's home.

What will happen this time: West Brom are not having the best season and after sacking Steve Clarke - a former Chelsea man - they have not found the form that would fill supporters with any sort of confidence that they will not be in a relegation dog-fight come the last few games of the season.

West Brom struggle to score in normal circumstances and I do not see that changing to any large degree come February. Chelsea will set up cautiously though with the knowledge that West Brom will play defensively and try to hit them on the break.

Mourinho will analyse Pepe Mel's team in the first half and then go for the throat in the second half. After a dull first 45 minutes, expect Chelsea to wrap it up and focus on the upcoming FA Cup match against title rivals Manchester City.

Prediction: 0-2

Chelsea vs Everton (Saturday 22 Feb)

What happened last time: Everton won the game at Goodison Park by a single Steven Naismith goal on the stroke of half-time. Chelsea dominated proceedings but could not score with Mourinho lamenting the missed opportunities. The worst of the misses was Eto'o - on his debut - not converting an early chance from just a few yards out after Tim Howard had passed the ball straight to Schurrle to square to the Cameroonian striker.

What will happen this time: Everton will have to make do without Romelu Lukaku for this match and that will prove a huge issue for Martinez who will hope that new loan signing Lacina Traore will have an immediate impact.

If not, the Toffees could struggle for goals. Their performance against Liverpool in the recent Merseyside derby shows that they are also susceptible to quick counter attacking football - a personal favorite of The Special One - and Chelsea will hope that the speed and hassling of the likes of Willian and Schurrle will give them the edge over Everton.

Martinez will be hoping that, because this fixture is sandwiched between a big FA Cup game against Manchester City and the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Galatasaray, the Chelsea team will struggle with slight fatigue.

Prediction: 1-0

If these predictions prove accurate, Mourinho will be confident about Chelsea's title credentials heading into the final months of the season and with ten points gained out of a possible twelve as well as the toughest fixture of the year out of the way, it looks very good for Chelsea in 2014.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms

Report author of article

DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

Want more content like this?

Like our GiveMeSport Facebook Page and you will get this directly to you.